


The Rain's Wet Kiss Is On Your Lips

by agentx13 (rebelle_elle)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Sad, if i did my job at least, sharon carter appreciation month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 05:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6226546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelle_elle/pseuds/agentx13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharon takes Steve to meet her parents. It doesn't go well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rain's Wet Kiss Is On Your Lips

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: mcu Sharon's parents don't like Steve when she brings him over to meet them

_All the primrose paths of morning called_  
Your feet to follow them, and all the winds  
Of all the hills of earth, with plucking hands  
Wooed you to slopes that shone like emerald,  
You might not go. The thin green grass that binds  
Your feet had Earth and Death to forge its bands. 

_The rain's wet kiss is on your lips, where lay_  
Once the live pulses of a woman's soul;  
Your eyes give back unto the quiet sky  
Only the sheen of stars, the glare of day,  
Or darkness when the kindly shadows roll  
Up from the sea to hide you where you lie. 

_No woman's whisper holds your strong heart spent_  
And breathless. All the silver horns that blew  
While legions cheered, are still. These things are done,  
But these you have: a death for monument,  
And peace you died to buy, and after you  
The laughing play of children in the sun. 

_\- To a Dead Soldier, by Kendall Harrison_

“You know we just want you to be happy, dear,” Amanda said. Her voice was quiet, but Sharon suspected Amanda could still be heard in the family room, where her dad sat in stony silence with Steve. 

Sharon opened the fridge again and rechecked all the contents inside. If her mother really wanted her to be happy, Amanda wouldn’t have dragged her into the kitchen for this conversation. Sharon was never comfortable in kitchens. As a matter of fact, if Amanda wanted her to be happy, they wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. Amanda and Harrison wouldn’t have insisted she come and bring her new boyfriend to meet her parents.

And Steve, the dumb fool, had said “Maybe we should, Sharon. They’re your parents, after all. I’m going to meet them eventually.”

Which, his confidence of a lengthy relationship aside, was annoying as all get-out. She’d tried to explain to him that she’d been estranged from her parents for a reason. Had been for years. No one else in the family had followed in Peggy’s footsteps. Peggy’s children had chosen the safest jobs they could find, with Peggy’s encouragement. Hell, her dad, Harrison, was a trust fund manager. 

It was like the family had lost its backbone after Peggy, and Sharon had been the only Carter stubborn enough to find it again. 

“I _am_ happy, Mom. He’s a great guy.”

“Sharon. Dear. He loved your great-aunt. He probably knows who the president was in 1912 because he was actually _alive_ then. I’m not saying he’s not a great guy, just that I don’t think he’s a great guy for _you._ ”

Sharon closed the fridge, then opened it again and took out a sour cream carton on the pretense that she wanted to read the ingredients. “I like how I don’t get any say in this. I’m only an adult. File my own taxes. Pump my own gas.”

“Yes, you’re a regular liberated woman. And don’t you think dating a man old enough to be your great-grandfather would set you back?”

Sharon made a face and replaced the sour cream. “You know, if you don’t count the time he spent in the ice, he’s only a couple years older than I am. And his mom had to raise him alone. He was the son of immigrants. The New Deal is one of the only reasons he survived long enough to become Captain America. So, no. I don’t think dating someone who was raised to respect women and a strong sense of empathy for those who have nothing is going to set me back at all.”

Amanda’s lips thinned into a line. “Just as stubborn as _that_ woman still, I see. Get the cheese tray, dear.” That woman. Peggy. Her parents had never liked Sharon much after she’d chosen to follow in Peggy’s footsteps instead of theirs. Her father had once accused her of preferring Peggy to them. Sharon had known better than to answer honestly, but it had been one of the last times she’d spoken to her parents. She was starting to remember why they’d been estranged for so long.

Amanda was clever enough to stand in the doorway until Sharon picked up the tray to follow her. If Amanda had left her alone in the kitchen, Sharon would have bolted through a window and called Steve from the road to tell him to run and catch up. As it was, she sighed and followed.

Only to hear her father finish saying, “-never a greater team than the Yankees.”

Oh, God.

Steve had that stiff look of fake interest that he wore for the news cameras, and she dropped beside him and set the tray on the table before placing a hand on his knee. His hand went to her back, resting there softly as if he needed the physical reminder that she existed.

Calling him to pick her up from the next town over wouldn’t do. She’d have to come up with an escape plan to get them both out at the same time. 

“Dad. You know nobody likes the Yankees, right? They buy their pennants by buying the best players. It’s not a real game if the deck is stacked.”

“I like knowing I’m backing a winning team, Shar.”

Goddamn nickname. Another reason she’d left and never looked back.

Steve leaned forward and swiped some cheese, somehow making the gesture polite even though she knew he had to be starving. Her dad was grilling out, and the smell was making even Sharon’s stomach rumble. Her dad’s burgers, and the loss of them after she’d moved out, were why she searched so hard to find good burger joints. Anything that could match or surpass her dad’s burgers would do. Still, she’d never found a burger that could compare, and the smell of her dad’s burgers was making her mouth water. She couldn’t imagine how hungry Steve must be, with his fast metabolism and the scent of savory grilled meat wafting in. 

Steve shifted and prepared himself to join the fray. “Baseball’s changed a bit since I was a kid. Used to be players like Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner. Hard to find people who have heard of Honus nowadays. Honus was a legend in my time, though. I always liked Wagner. Now I guess only die-hard fans have heard of him.”

She looked at him curiously. She had no idea who he was talking about.

Evidently, her parents didn’t, either. They both smiled in their most inoffensive way - which made it all the more offensive, and her dad filled the silence by saying, “Just imagine. The same thing will happen to you one day.”

Jesus Christ.

Steve looked at her with a faint grin that made her feel warm and, if she were being honest, a little afraid. She knew what he was thinking about; every time they saw a movie featuring a two-story ranch with a white picket fence, he took her hand and looked at her with that same grin. As much as she cared about him, as much as she loved him, the thought of settling down with a picket white fence and 2.5 kids terrified her. “I can only hope,” he told her dad.

“I’ll go check on the burgers,” she said, a little too quickly, and her feet were carrying her out of the room almost before she realized she was moving.

She was setting the spatula back when Steve joined her, leaning against the table nearby with his hands in his pockets.

“They don’t seem to like me much,” he stated, looking out over the backyard.

Talk about understatement. She tried not to look at him. She knew if she did, she’d tell him that they could just go, and that would put him in the position of having to say they should stay. He would, too. He was too good not to. Or worse, she’d tell him something like “We should just elope,” and then it would all be over.

“At least they’re not the Skull.” Her voice was tight. She started wiping down the grilling utensils in an attempt to keep her hands busy.

“You okay?”

She nodded, then shook her head. “They never approved of what I wanted to do with my life, and I’ve wanted to do it since I was a kid. I grew up knowing that my parents loved me, but they never really liked me. Peggy was the one who- She was the one who actually supported me. They never did. And now I’m here, and-” She shook her head. “I’m a goddamn adult woman. I’ve made my decisions. And it’s not like I wanted to date you because you’re Captain America or because I wanted to climb you like a tree or because I wanted to follow in Aunt Peggy’s footsteps.”

“Climb me like a what now?”

Oh, crap. She bent her head to inspect an imaginary spot on the spatula. “I wanted to date you because you’re a good man, and you make me feel...”

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t move, stock-still and waiting.

“Happy, okay? If I- Marriage scares the hell out of me. It’s so _normal,_ and I’ve never been good at normal. But for- for you? I mean, I’d want to get used to the idea, maybe for a couple years, but I like you. I like, you know, _being_ with you.” She fumbled, and the silence stretched. After several seconds ticked by, she risked glancing at him.

He was grinning like an idiot.

She pointed the spatula at him. “Shut up, Rogers.”

He shook his head. “Wasn’t saying anything.”

“Thinking it, though.”

He didn’t stop grinning. He held out his hand to her, and she set the spatula back in its place before following him back inside. Please let this mean they were leaving. Please let this mean they were leaving.

Steve stopped just inside the door. “Mr. Carter? Mrs. Carter?” He waited until they both looked at him before continuing, “There may be some confusion about me and Sharon, so let me clear it up. The fact is I fell for her before I knew she was related to Peggy in any way. And none of the reasons I love her have anything to do with her being like Peggy. She’s her own woman, and she’d deck anyone who’d try to make her otherwise. She’s brave, stubborn, and I’m going to be with her for as long as she’ll have me. If you don’t like that, that’s fine. If you can at least respect it, I’ll ignore that you’re Yankee fans and that you think I’m too old for her when I’m actually only a couple years older.” He looked to Amanda. “And I was born in 1918, not 1912, ma’am. But if you really want to know, we had to learn about presidents in school. William Howard Taft was president. It was an election year; he lost to Woodrow Wilson.”

Amanda’s cheeks turned pink. Ha, Mom. Busted.

“So if you two want us to stay for dinner, that’d be great.” Sharon heard his stomach grumble and tried not to smirk. She doubted he was looking forward to sitting around and waiting while the meat cooked. “If you don’t, that’s fine, too. But when it comes to Sharon, I’m not going anywhere without her.” He turned to look at her, and Sharon felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach. As afraid as she might be about settling down, feeling that warmth again might be worth it.

Her father harrumphed. “Well. It doesn’t seem like you’ll cave easily when the pressure is on. That’s good. Carters can be a tempestuous lot.”

Amanda cast a glance his way. “You’re a Carter, dear.”

He shrugged. “So I know how bad they can be.”

“Not that bad,” Steve argued.

Harrison shuddered. “No. Trust me. They’re some of the most stubborn people you’ll ever meet.” He took a bite of cheese, his eyes sharp and steady on Sharon and Steve. Sharon fought the urge to squirm. “So let me ask you a question, Steve. Do you think Aunt Peg would approve of the two of you?”

Sharon felt Steve stiffen against her and forced down the panic that rose within her. If Steve broke up with her because of her parents, after she had admitted that she could maybe see herself marrying him one day, she would definitely never speak to them again.

But when Steve spoke, he sounded calm. “I don’t know how well you knew your aunt, but she wasn’t petty. She never denied anybody she cared about the possibility of finding happiness.” His arm pulled Sharon closer. “Peggy got to experience all the things I never got the chance to show her. After I came out of the ice, I started giving up on ever experiencing any of it myself.” He glanced at Sharon. “And it’s because of Sharon that I’m... happy. And I want a life again.” He turned back to her father. “And if you think Peggy would be against that, then I can’t help thinking that you didn’t know her as well as you think.”

“Hm.” Sharon tried to tell herself that her father wasn’t glowering at Steve, then told herself that it was subtle enough that no one would notice. But no, Harrison was openly glowering. “Then I guess you didn’t know my aunt as well as I did.”

Steve smiled tightly. “And I guess we’ll just be going. Thank you for having us.” He held out his hand, and Harrison, instead of taking it, pointed to the door.

“Shar knows the way out, if you can’t find it on your own.”

Sharon’s insides twisted. As much as she hadn’t liked her parents - sure, she loved them, but not _liked_ them - she still hadn’t expected it to hurt this much. “Dad- Mom?”

Amanda shrugged. “Sorry, Shari. But we can’t approve of this. We care about you too much.”

“If you need us,” her father said gruffly, “we’re here. But don’t think we’ll support you two in this charade of a relationship.”

Sharon stared at them. Steve must have noticed that a vein in Sharon’s temple had started thumping, because he turned her to front door. He said good-bye to Amanda and Harrison - far too politely, in her opinion - and helped her into the car. She had driven them here, but obviously he didn’t trust her emotional state right now to let her drive home. She couldn’t blame him. She was hurt and angry enough that she couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t wind up wrapped around a tree.

He turned the key in the ignition and sighed. “I’ll admit it. You warned me.”

She snorted. “Not even I knew it was going to be _that_ bad.”

He looked at her sideways as he drove slowly down the driveway. “This doesn’t change anything, you know.”

She swallowed the happy, glowing feeling that spread throughout her body and smirked at him. “You’re not afraid I’ll turn into my mom?”

He grinned. “No, but now I know what to call you when we’re arguing. _Shari._ ”

She mock-glared at him. “You wouldn’t!”

He smirked at her. The jackass. 

Of course, to put up with her, to make her fall for him, he’d probably have to be a bit of a jackass, wouldn’t he. She grinned and quickly looked out the window before he could see. From the self-satisfied expression she glimpsed on his face, though, she hadn’t been fast enough.

And who knew? Maybe her parents would come around someday.

* * *

“I don’t like treating her like that, Harry.”

“I don’t, either, Mandy. But she can’t know.”

Amanda grabbed the cheese tray. “Can’t know what, Harry? That we don’t care who she’s with so long as she’s happy? Or that you’re NSA?”

Harrison gathered some of the glasses and followed her. “Both.” He didn’t look at her as he set the glasses beside the sink and started washing them by hand. “It’s bad enough she became a SHIELD agent. But if the NSA found out that our daughter is dating an Avenger...” He shrugged. “And it’s dangerous. I’ve been telling you for years that it’s too dangerous for both of you to be near me.”

“Carters aren’t the only stubborn people in the world,” Amanda snapped. 

“No, they’re not.” He leaned over and kissed her temple, and they washed and dried the dishes in companionable silence.

“You really think Hydra is in the NSA?” Her voice was quiet. Harrison searched for bugs every day, but it never hurt to be cautious.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d founded the NSA.” He looked at her, the hairs that had come loose in wisps against her neck, the scar on her cheek that was now almost invisible. “I thought about asking the Avengers for help, Mandy. I did. And the Avengers could do a lot. But their method is more a burn-it-to-the-ground method. That’ll send the people in charge deeper underground. And if we want to find out who’s in charge, we can’t spook them.”

“We can’t even tell Shar.”

“No. It’s safer if they think she means nothing to us and we mean nothing to her. It’s safer if she has as little to do with us as possible.”

“She hates us, Harry.”

He took the last glass from her hands and placed it on the drying mat. “There are worse things than her hating us. We’ll tell her the truth one day. Just... not yet. Not until it’s safe.”

Amanda nodded, but she didn’t look at him.

“I love you,” he said quietly.

She sighed. “I love you, too. Even if you _are_ infuriating.”

He beamed. “And look on the bright side. Now, you and I get to eat all those delicious burgers I made ourselves.”

Amanda huffed a laugh. “Infuriating,” she repeated.

“Maybe we can go for a drive after,” he suggested. “Get some night air.”

Her smile gained strength. “I’d like that.” She leaned over and bumped her shoulder against his. “And as dangerous as it is, you’d better not go and die without me.”

He shuddered. He never wanted her to die, never wanted to live through the emptiness that would dominate his life after. But then, he supposed she felt the same way about him. That was the problem with personal attachments; they never lasted forever. He took her hand and kissed her temple. “I swear it.”

Later that night, as the flames licked his feet and devoured the car, he kissed the blood on Amanda’s cooling temple and swallowed whatever wishes and regrets he had. For now, all that mattered was that Sharon was safe, and he’d be with Amanda again soon.


End file.
